GMS User Guide: Robot Inspection

The key feature is that all information is shared immediately and everyone gets to see the same up-to-date data. GMS is not a replacement for the technical expertise of any role.

RIs carry Android tablets while LRIs and IMs can use tablets or laptops. An Android phone can also be used instead of a tablet. Events can be run with a mix where some RIs use GMS and while others use paper checklists, however, the paper users will feel severely disenfranchised :-(

Documentation

The roles and processes for Lead Robot Inspector and Inspector Manager are documented in http://gms.pejaver.com/LRIProcess.htm. That document describes ‘what’ is being done, this document describes ‘how’ to do it with GMS.
LRI "Best Practices" are documented at http://gms.pejaver.com/BestPractices-Inspection.htm.
A Functional Overview of Inspection is at http://gms.pejaver.com/Overview-Inspection.htm.

Architecture

There are two models:

A "Cloud" model is available that simplifies setup at an event. It eliminates having to set up a GMS laptop server. GMS needs WiFi at the event site. The Remote GMS Server looks like any other Web Server, but the protocol used is REST instead of HTTP.
The "Local" model is useful mainly for Off-Season events where the cloud may not be available.

Home screen

The text below describes equivalent functions on the tablet and laptop. The appendix summarizes functions supported on tablets and laptops.

NOTE: the teams and colors in the following diagrams are randomly simulated situations and do not reflect or imply a team’s capabilities.

Tablets:

When an inspector logs in to a tablet, the home page is a Pit Map color coded to show each team's inspection state. Teams waiting for inspection (or any kind of attention by a RI) can be placed in an inspection queue. The first few teams in the queue are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Swiping the pit map vertically displays a tabular view of the teams. This view allows teams to be sorted according to different columns. For example, sorting by Rank allows the top few teams to be selected for re-inspection just before the Elimination rounds.

Swiping a pit map horizontally changes the view to indicate when teams are expected to queue for the field. This changes the color coding. Red means that the team is on the field, yellow means that they are queuing. Swiping horizontally again changes the "current" match number. Pressing the back button returns to Inspection status view.

Clicking on a team displays the "Team Page". Long pressing a team leads to short-cuts to other functions.

Laptop:

On login to a PC, the main screen for the LRI functions is shown below. The header indicates the current match on the field, and a summary of team states. The game phase and match number can be manually overridden in case it is set incorrectly.

Each team's status is summarized in single line in the table. The table entries can be sorted by any of the columns by clicking on the corresponding column header. Clicking on the header again reverses the sort order. This helps to locate teams and to group teams according to the column values. Sorting by Time of Change indicates which team had recent activities. The color coding for the Queue column indicates which teams are on the field (red) and which are queuing next (yellow).

A Pit Map view can be displayed by selecting View à Display Pit map. This view looks cool when displayed on an overhead projector.

The number of unanswered items in the checklist is displayed in the Pending column. The cell goes green for a team when a Compliance signature is filed. Clicking on the Pending column or on team nickname shows the current Inspection Checklist for that team.

Team Details and Match Notes

Tablet:

Clicking on a team in the pit map or team list leads to the Team Page. The team schedule, inspection state and robot weights are summarized here. Buttons lead to various other functions. Clicking on the Comments button displays the match-by-match notes recorded by the Match Observers. These are useful for identifying patterns of safety issues, like bumpers falling off during the match. Each comment includes the time and the originator of the comment.

Note that the LRI or JA can opt to restrict access to Match Observer information based on the role of the recipient. MOs will typically be configured to report their observations to the JA station. If the JA blocks access, then LRI/RIs will not receive MO reports. Security sure sucks sometimes.

Laptop:

Clicking on a team number in the PC home screen displays team details which includes all the Match Observer notes for that team. A sample of the Team Details screen on the laptop is shown below.

Inspection State and Robot Weights

Tablet:

From the Team page, click on the State button to display the State screen.

The Event's desired target state is displayed. Only the LRI or IM can change this target state. This affects the coloring of the teams’ on the Pit map. Teams at or ahead of the desired state are green, those that are 1 state behind are yellow and the rest are red.

The team's position in the inspection queue is displayed. RIs can append or remove a team from the queue. LRIs and IMs can also insert a team into the middle of the queue.

The RI currently assigned to the team is displayed. RIs can assign or deassign themselves. They can also assign a LRI as a way to notify the LRI that help is needed. LRIs and IMs can assign and deassign any RI. Only one RI can be assigned to a team. However, an RI can be assigned to multiple teams.

The radio buttons display the current robot state and allow it to be changed. The state cannot be changed to Weighed or beyond unless actual weights are entered.

There are two other temporary states: Re-Check and Re-Inspect:

· Re-Check is an advisory from a RI that some other RI needs to check an aspect of the robot. There should be a note explaining the concern. This will typically be a minor concern and the robot will be allowed to compete on the field. Examples include, an RI asking for a second opinion, referees commenting on a robot, or selecting a team for Elimination re-inspection.

· Re-Inspect is a mandatory check of the robot due to a major issue. Queuers using GMS will not allow the robot to compete on the field until the state is cleared. Examples include, robot was modified significantly, robot exceeds perimeter limits during a match, etc.

Weights can be entered or updated. When weights are updated, the previous values are recorded in the team’s log. When a robot is being re-weighed, the total weight (including bumpers) can be entered in the Bumpers field. Assuming that the bumper weight has not changed, the bare robot weight is calculated and updated.

The Confirm button must be pressed to save changes. The Back button can be used to cancel.

Laptop:

Clicking on the state column allows the team to be moved the next state. This does not remove them from any queue they are on. The sequence of inspection states are:

Initial à Unbagged à Weighed à Safety Checked à Qualification à Elimination à Initial à …

The color of the State cell reflects the team’s status:

Ø Green: At or ahead of the desired state,

Ø Yellow: one state behind the desired state,

Ø Red: two or more states behind the desired state.

Ø Pink: Team marked for Re-checking

Ø Red: Re-inspection required

The state (and color) may seem to change spontaneously if RIs change it from their mobile device. Depending on the situation, the RI can change the state to whatever is appropriate, including ‘re-inspect’.

The current desired inspection state for the event is displayed at the bottom of the screen. That state can be advanced or retarded manually by clicking the ‘Next State’ or ‘Prev State’ buttons.

Auto State is a mode that advances the desired state automatically. When 20% of the teams reach a state, then that state becomes the new target state. ‘Re-inspection’ is not considered an acceptable target state. Clicking on ‘Prev’ or ‘Next’ state cancels Auto State and reverts back to manual changes.

Inspections Queue

Tablet:

Teams waiting for inspection (or any kind of attention by a RI) can be placed in the inspection queue.

The State page displays a team's position in the queue. The Home page displays the top of the queue. The Team List page can display a sorted list of all teams in the queue.

A team will be automatically taken off the queue when a RI starts inspecting them. RIs, LRIs and IMs can add or remove teams from the queue. LRIs and IMs can also insert teams in the middle of the queue.

Laptop:

The LRI/IM can add or remove a team from the queue by clicking the team's queue cell. If a team is not on the queue, then the team is added to the end of the queue. If a team is in the queue, they will be removed. However, the queue position is preserved in case they were taken off by mistake; adding them back to the queue restores their original position. The LRI/IM can also type in a queue number to insert a team into a specific spot in the queue.

Robot Inspector Assignments

Tablet:

The State screen displays the RI currently assigned to inspect the team. RIs can assign or de-assign themselves. They can also assign an LRI to the team. LRIs and IMs can assign or de-assign other RIs and LRIs. There will be an indication of the number of teams currently assigned to each available RI.

On the assigned RI’s mobile device, the team will go blue on the pit map and the device will buzz and beep. This indicates that the RI should visit that team.

Laptop:

Clicking on the RI column allows the LRI or IM to assign a RI to the team. A screen displays a list of RIs, their status, availability and affiliation. An RI can be assigned by clicking and selecting or double clicking on the RI name. A warning will be generated if the team is affiliated with the assigned RI. Affiliations are not indicated on the tablet.

Inspection Checklist

This screen allows RIs to check off items as they inspect a robot. Checking off an item will broadcast the change to all others. The next RI inspecting the team can resume where the previous RI left off. This helps provide a consistent front to the teams.

The questions in the Robot Inspection Checklist are based on the paper checklist. They can be left unanswered, or can be answered OK or not OK. Each team may have a checklist in a different state of completion.

There is no ‘locking’ mechanism for updating checklists. The RI that checks in data last overrides all previous updates. Updates are merged in, and in general this is a good thing. All changes are logged so any confusion can be resolved by looking at the team log.

Tablet:

There are two related buttons on the Team page: Inspect and Resume. Inspect displays the full checklist while Resume displays only the items that are not answered or are marked "Not OK". The latter view is useful when the checklist is almost complete.

If the team was on the queue, they will be automatically de-queued. This avoids having other RIs coming to the team on the queue. The RI will also be automatically assigned to the team.

The number of unanswered items in the checklist is displayed in the Pending column in the Team List view. This column can be sorted to display teams with most pending items. This area will be colored yellow when all items are marked OK (or N/A) or green when the compliance signature has been filed.

Laptop:

The laptop is not the ideal medium for inspections. This screen is intended to allow the LRI to review a team's checklist. However, the screen is fully functional and supports updates. Note that an IM can view but cannot update the checklist.

The number of unanswered items in the checklist is displayed in the Pending column.

Team Notes

Tablet:

The Notes screen allows notes to be added to the team’s log. Notes can be text, video, picture or a drawing. They can be annotated. Pictures and drawings can be drawn over, so that things of interest can be marked or circled.

All RI notes sent to the server and are shared. It may take a few seconds for pictures and videos to be downloaded. A thumbnail icon is displayed when the note is available. Clicking on a picture, video or drawing will display it full screen.

A note can be deleted by long pressing on it. Notes by others cannot be deleted.

Android's voice to text feature works nicely and can be used to add text notes.

Laptop:

Notes cannot be added or viewed from the laptop. However, the Log will indicate when a note was added or deleted.

Compliance Signature

Tablet:

At the end of the inspections, the RI can get the team to sign the compliance statement on the tablet. This is added as a note. The name of the Mentor and Team Lead can be added to the Note description.

An indication is sent to the LRI when the compliance signature is filed.

Laptop:

Compliance Signatures cannot be added or viewed from the laptop. However, the Pending column will go green when a Compliance Signature has been filed for that team. The column will be yellow if the number of pending items goes to zero but a signature is not filed.

Inspection Log

Tablet:

The inspection log tracks all changes made to the team status. The userId of the RI who made the changes and the time it was made will be saved. Changes in robot weight are also recorded. This allows the LRI to track down each RI that was associated with a team’s inspection when there is a question about variances granted to a team.

The Log can be accessed from a button on the State page. There is also a short-cut to it from the home pages. Each line indicates the change, time and the name of the changer.

Pictures and videos are not automatically downloaded. Clicking on the icon will initiate download and clicking on it again will display it.

Laptop:

The log can be accessed on the laptop by clicking in the team's Changes column.

Personal Markings

Tablet:

Sometimes an RI needs to remember a team and needs a way to place a personal mark on the team. They can do so by long-pressing the team on the home screens and selecting Mark Team. The team will be colored orange on the Pit Map and Team List views. The team can be unmarked in the same way. This marking is not shared with other RIs.

Laptop:

Personal Markings are not supported on the laptop.

Match Schedule View

Tablet:

Tap on the Pit Map background two or three times to display the tabular Match Schedule view. The current match will have a green background and the next few will be yellow. Scores for completed matches will be displayed under the match number. The Time column displays the scheduled and actual match start times. Teams are color coded. Purple indicates a team's last appearance in the schedule. They can be re-inspected for Playoffs if needed. Teams that are shaded yellow have a tight schedule for their next match.

Laptop:

GMS does not display the Match Schedule on the laptop.

Game Manual

Tablet:

The latest game manual is conveniently accessible by horizontally swiping the Inspection or Notes screens.

Laptop:

GMS does not display the Game Manual on the laptop. Use a browser to view the manual from the FIRST web site.

Searching

GMS allows searching notes and team details for word patterns. This allows searching (as an example) for robots that tipped over or are being sponsored by a particular company.

Laptop:

Searching is not supported on the laptop.

Publishing status to Teams

Laptop:

The inspection status can be published to the teams from the laptop server. This allows teams to view their status online. It requires the laptop to be connected to the Internet. The feature can be turned on in the Configuration page (Tools à Configuration à Application).

In the Cloud mode, contact the GMS operator to make these changes.

Exporting data and Printing reports

Laptop:

Inspection data can be exported to Excel for further reporting and analysis. The Inspection Checklist can be dumped to a CSV file via File à Export Pit Checklist. The Inspection log can be saved via File à Export Inspection Log. This file contains a line for each inspection transaction. The third column contains the time as seconds past 1970. Sorting by this column yields a nice inspection time line of the event.

Printing the Inspection report via File à Print ... à Inspection Report allows creating a paper 'backup' containing the latest inspection state.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

It is recommended to have a laptop running in "backup" mode. This backup will stay in sync with the main server and can be used if the server is somehow disabled. This applies to "Cloud mode" as well.

Offline Mode

Offline mode on the tablet allows RIs to view their notes and checklists while out of WiFi range. Note that changes made to notes or inspections will be lost when re-connecting to the server.

Modifying or Customizing Checklists

Laptop:

If necessary, the checklist can be easily modified or customized for each event. For FIRST FRC sponsored events, you should probably get an approval from FIRST or endure the wrath of the Head Robot Inspector. This feature is more useful for FTC and FLL events.

Changes should be finalized before the event starts and should be in a file called RIChecklist.txt in the ‘state’ sub-directory. It follows the syntax for Award rubrics (duplicated here). The syntax for the rubrics is as follows.

Each rubric is specified in one line. A section title can be specified by enclosing the line between ‘<<<’ and ‘>>>’. This title will be displayed in bold on the mobile device. A rubric can be an instruction or a question that the inspector should verify. If the rubric ends with a question mark (?), then a sequence of responses can be specified. The mobile user can select from one of the responses by pressing the corresponding button. The labels for the buttons can be specified in the rubric itself following the question mark. If no options are specified following the question mark, the default options are ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Instructions should not end with a question mark. Blank lines can be inserted as separators. See the Award section for more examples.

The following fragment of checklist rubrics generate the screen shown below. Mobile devices will display a similar screen.

<<<Initial Inspection>>>

Bumpers must provide protection of all outside corners. <R22>? OK, Not OK

All segments as defined by backing may not extend >1" beyond robot frame. <R24, b.>? OK, Not OK

No bumper segment may be unsupported by robot frame for a length greater than 8". <R29,C>? OK, Not OK

Bumpers may have gaps between frame and bumper up to 1/4".<R29,B >? OK, Not OK

All corners must be protected by bumpers >=8" on both sides and include pool noodles within corners. <R22 >? OK, Not OK

Must use 3/4" thick x 5" tall plywood plywood or solid, robustwood, backing and a pair of vertically-stacked 2.5" pool noodles with no extraneous holes that may affect structural integrity. (clearance pockets and/or access holes are acceptable). <R24.>? OK, Not OK

Must use a durable fabric cover for the noodles. <R24, d.>? OK, Not OK

Tablet:

Checklists cannot be modified from the tablet.

Appendix: Comparing Tablets and Laptops

The following shows the functions supported on each platform. LocalPC and CloudPC refer to a laptop in Local and Cloud mode respectively.

Inspection Functions	Tablet	LocalPC	CloudPC
Summary View	Yes	Yes	Yes
View Pit Map	Yes	Yes	Yes
View Team List	Yes	Yes	Yes
View Team Details	Yes	Limited	Limited
Inspect Teams	Yes	Yes	Yes
Change Team State	Yes	Yes	Yes
Enter Robot Weights	Yes	Yes	Yes
Assign RIs to Teams	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage Team Inspection Queue	Yes	Yes	Yes
Record and View Compliance Signature	Yes	No	No
Record and View Notes on Teams	Yes	No	No
View Match Schedule	Yes	No	No
Search Notes	Yes	No	No
View Inspection Logs	Yes	Yes	Yes

Tablets generally do not support configuration functions. The following shows configuration functions supported on each platform.

Configuration Functions	Tablet	LocalPC	CloudPC
Print reports	No	Yes	Yes
Modify the RI Checklist	No	Yes	No
Define Users & Change their Authorizations	No	Yes	Yes
Reset User Passwords	No	Yes	Yes
Import User List (LRI, IM, not RI)	No	Yes	Yes
Edit Message Channels	No	Yes	Yes
Edit Teams participating in the Event	No	Yes	No
Make Fake Match Schedule	No	Yes	Yes
Import Match Schedule (LRI, IM, not RI)	No	Yes	Yes
Erase Match Schedule	No	Yes	No
Input Match Schedule for Practice Phase	FTA only	No	No
Change Match Phase and Number	No	Yes	Yes
Configure GMS options	No	Yes	No
Export Match Observer Comments (LRI)	No	Yes	Yes
Make Pit Map	No	Yes	Yes
Make SSL Keys	No	Yes	No
Publish Notifications	No	Yes	Yes
Download Updates	No	Yes	No

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